Alabama

Health of college pitchers' arms faces more scrutiny, but concerns continue

Mississippi State's Evan Mitchell delivers a pitch Wednesday during SEC Tournament play. Arm injuries for college pitchers remains a concern despite measures being taken by coaches. (The Birmingham News/Linda Stelter)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Derik Olvey once envisioned a bright playing career ahead of him as a prep All-American pitcher at Pelham High School.

When The Birmingham News profiled Olvey five years ago, he was fresh off Tommy John elbow surgery that followed a 151-pitch game for LSU in which he refused to give up the ball. Olvey never recovered.

He transferred to Arizona State, tore the ligament again and had a second surgery. His career ended without another pitch.

"No regrets," said Olvey, now 26 and a manager at a Publix supermarket in Pelham. "I just don't think I was prepared for the usage I was given when I was younger."

Five years ago, renowned Birmingham sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews described the number of young, injured pitchers as "an alarming epidemic." Today, there is more awareness about the state of college pitchers' arms and still concerns.

"The number of injuries that we're seeing across the country probably has a long way to go to plateauing," Andrews said. "However, the coaches in the SEC have become extremely aware of their responsibilities to take care of their throwing arms. It's a recruiting factor."

But just like in 2006, at least 19 percent of pitchers on 2011 SEC rosters have had elbow or shoulder surgery before or during college, according to a survey by The Birmingham News of 10 of the league's 12 teams. Auburn and Mississippi State declined to participate.

Andrews called the 19 percent figure "way too high." He said a rate between 10 percent and 12 percent would be more reasonable.

"The problem is we still see them coming out of high school hurt," Andrews said. "The problem is upside down. Our college and professional pitchers are protected better from fatigue and overthrowing than our high school and youth baseball players are."

Between 1996 and 2000, Andrews performed elbow surgeries on 95 college pitchers. That rate exploded to 351 between 2001 and 2005. From 2006 to 2010, college pitchers had 327 elbow surgeries with Andrews.

Andrews' overall number of elbow surgeries -- counting youth, high school, college, pro and others -- declined 15 percent during the latest five-year data. That's largely due to surgeries on pro pitchers dropping from 193 in 2001-05 to 86 in 2006-10.

Dr. Glenn Fleisig, research director of the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, cautioned the data aren't scientific. For instance, it only takes into account Andrews' surgeries in Birmingham, not those he now does in Florida as well.

But Fleisig sees enough of a trend to say, "I think we're getting a little less injury. Whether it's Major League Baseball on TV or Dr. Andrews giving speeches, there's a lot more talk about pitch counts than years ago. Parents are more conscious now than they used to be."

Five years have passed and Boyd Nation, a 44-year-old baseball fan in Birmingham, continues to impact the sport he loves. Nation tracks what he considers high pitch counts (121 or more pitches) throughout the country at boydsworld.com.

SEC coaches are clearly paying attention. An analysis by The Birmingham News shows the number of 121-pitch-or-more starts by SEC pitchers dropped 26 percent in the past five years compared to the first five years of Nation's data.

The most excessive pitch counts tracked by Nation -- starts with 133 pitches or more -- dropped 64 percent in the SEC since 2006. And 2011 could be the first season in which no SEC team has a pitcher throw 133 pitches or more in a game.

Alabama still ranks as the SEC's highest in overusing pitchers, with 36 starts of 121 or more pitches. But that's down from 50 between 2002 and '06, and Alabama has only four such starts since Mitch Gaspard replaced Jim Wells as coach two years ago.

Gaspard said he aims for 90 to 110 pitches per start to increase his pitchers' chances of staying consistent all season.

"I think a coach would be lying if he said (Nation's) data is not a big part of this," Gaspard said. "Because if you start getting hammered over a pitch count, that's just going to make your recruiting more difficult."

Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin said he believes some opposing coaches used pitch counts against him after star pitcher David Price had 10 starts in 2007 with 121 or more pitches.

"Our theory on him was a little bit different than most," Corbin said. "He was 6-foot-5. He trained to pitch that way. He didn't throw a lot of breaking balls and he was mostly a fastball pitcher. We extended him. But if you look at all the pitchers we've ever had, he's the only one we've used like that. Knock on wood, he's been healthy."

Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn found himself breaking one of his usual rules last Saturday. Van Horn knew Arkansas needed to win to qualify for the SEC Tournament, and so did ace pitcher DJ Baxendale, who had thrown 107 pitches two days earlier.

"That's why he asked for the ball," Van Horn said of Baxendale, whose 14-pitch save sent Arkansas to Hoover. "First time I've done it all year. I normally wouldn't do it. It's tough on the coaches. What if a guy gets hurt?"

Mississippi State and coach John Cohen were sued this month by former pitcher Forrest Moore, claiming that overuse and negligence by the coaching staff contributed to an elbow injury. Moore claims Cohen forced him to pitch while injured, causing further damage to his arm that resulted in Moore's scholarship being non-renewed.

The school is looking into the allegations, which include claims of excessive practice time. Mississippi State Athletics Director Scott Stricklin told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger he believes no NCAA rules were violated.

Come out when tired

Pitch counts are a huge part of baseball now. But the American Sports Medicine Institute's Fleisig cautions that hard pitch counts in college are less important than good mechanics and proper rest.

Pitch counts and a radar gun give coaches a feel for when to look for fatigue. A tired pitcher can result in his mechanics deviating, causing an injury.

"In Little League, they have to make pitch-count rules because the parents don't know what's best," Fleisig said. "At college, they should use pitch counts as guidelines to make individual decisions. When pitchers are fatigued, they should come out."

College pitchers should take three to four months off each year from competing and at least two months off from throwing, Fleisig said. "That seems like a lot," he said. "But the science shows those are the guys who don't get hurt."

Olvey, the former Pelham star, said LSU never forced an excessive workload on him. But he believes colleges are now much more aware of how to handle arms due to publicity.

"You can't watch a game on TV without the little pitch count down there in the corner," Olvey said.